16 about an hundred and twenty), Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning 17 Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this 18 ministry. (Now this man purchased a field with the reward

16. Men and brethren] The original is meant for one epithet, and would be fully enough rendered by brethren alone, here and in other places where it occurs.

this scripture, &c.] "This" is omitted by the best authorities. Read The scripture, &c. It is to be noticed that Peter can thus speak because he had now been taught to understand the Scriptures (Luke xxiv. 45).

must needs have been fulfilled] Christ was to die on the cross, betrayed to death by one in whom He had trusted. David had spoken in the Psalms of his own afflictions from a similar treachery and also of the destruction which he invoked upon those who were guilty of such infidelity. But while David spake of himself and of his own circumstances, the Holy Ghost through him was speaking of the betrayal of the "Son of David," and the words which had been true of David, must have their still more complete fulfilment in the betrayal of the Saviour, by him "who was guide to them that took Jesus" (Matt. xxvi. 47, &c.).

17. For he was numbered with [among] us, and had obtained part of this ministry] Literally, had received the lot of, &c. Judas fulfils the conditions of the prophecy (Ps. cix. 2—5). His was the mouth of the deceitful, his the lying tongue, his the groundless enmity, his the requital of evil for good, and hatred for goodwill. But though he had been among the number of the twelve and had been selected by Christ to the same service as the rest, that was not his true place.

18. It seems best to treat this verse and the following, which break the connection of St Peter's remarks on David's prophecies, as no part of the Apostle's speech, but an insertion made by St Luke to emphasize by a minute description the ruin which came upon Judas, and of which Peter had only spoken in the words of the Psalmist.

These two verses (18 and 19) are connected in themselves by the copulative conjunction, but the particles which introduce verse 18 (μèv ovv) express no more than a confirmation of the statement in which they occur, and a transition to some explanatory matter. They are frequently employed in a similar manner by the writer of the Acts (as v. 41, xiii. 4, xvii. 30, xxiii. 22, xxvi. 9). But that which stamps the passage as a parenthesis is the demonstrative pronoun which stands at the head of it. The position of the Greek words would be represented by This man you are to know acquired, &c. If it had been a continuous narrative we should have had some connection of the following kind: "He had obtained part of this ministry, and yet he with the reward of his iniquity, &c." without the insertion of any demonstrative, or indeed of any pronoun at all, in the Greek.

Now this man purchased a field] Rather, acquired, which probably

of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known 19 unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say,

was the sense intended by the A. V., as it was an old sense of the English word purchase. This may be said not only of him who buys, but of him who becomes the occasion of another's buying. The field was bought by the chief priests (Matt. xxvii. 5-8) with the money which Judas returned, but as they could not take that money for the treasury, they were likely to look upon what was purchased with it as still the property of the traitor. St Luke's employment of the unusual word "acquire" in a narrative where he calls the price of the land "the reward of iniquity," and speaks of the immediate death of Judas, makes it clear that he views (and that the people of Jerusalem did the same) the field Akeldama as the field which Judas acquired, though it became, from the circumstances, a public possession for a burial ground.

the reward of iniquity] This expression is only found in N. T. here and 2 Pet. ii. 13, 15. So that it seems to be a Petrine phrase. The A. V. conceals the identity of the Greek words in these three passages by giving them in each place a different English rendering.

and falling headlong, &c.] This can only have occurred after the hanging mentioned by St Matthew (xxvii. 5). It appears from St Luke's narrative here that the death of Judas, attended by all these dreadful circumstances, took place in the spot which the chief priests eventually purchased. This, if a fit place for an Eastern burying ground, would be of a rocky character where caves abounded or could easily be made, and it would be the more rugged, if, as St Matthew's narrative intimates, it had been used for the digging of clay for the potters. If in such a place the suicide first hanged himself and the cord which he used gave way, it is easy to understand how in the fall all the consequences described in this verse would be the result. For a similar result to bodies falling on rocks, cp. 2 Chron. xxv. 12. Buxtorf (Rabb. Lex. s. v. D) suggests that the expression of St Matthew, "hanged himself," might be rendered "he was choked," as if by asphyxia, from over-excitement and anguish. He says the Jews have so explained the end of Ahithophel, and that a like explanation might suit in the Gospel. And St Chrysostom, Hom. XXII. ad Antiochenos, uses the expression to be strangled by conscience. But this view seems to be surrounded by far more difficulties than the belief that St Matthew merely mentioned one single incident in the suicide's fate, while St Luke, because his purpose seemed to ask it, has described the death of Judas in such wise as to shew that his destruction was as terrible as anything of which David had spoken in the Psalms to which St Peter had referred.

19. And it was known] Rather, became known. The fate of Judas, if he died there, and the way in which the purchase money was obtained, caused the name to be changed from "the Potter's Field" to "the Field of Blood," all people recognizing the fitness of the new name.

is called] The use of expressions like this in the present tense shews

20

The field of blood.) For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another

that we are dealing with documents written before the destruction of Jerusalem.

in their proper tongue] i.e. in the language spoken by the Jews in Jerusalem, which was Aramaic. The addition of these words and the explanation of the name Akeldama point to this passage as an insertion made by St Luke for the information of Theophilus, who, as his name indicates, was probably of Greek origin, and, it may be, unacquainted with the vernacular speech of Palestine. There could have been no need for St Peter to make such an explanation to the one hundred and twenty who listened to his address. Nor, indeed, is it probable that the name "Field of Blood" became of such common use within the time between the Crucifixion and the election of Matthias, as to make it possible for St Peter to have used the words.

For a similar insertion of a significant name introduced into a compiled narrative before the time at which the name was actually given, cp. I Sam. iv. I, where Eben-ezer is spoken of, though the circumstances in which the name originated are not mentioned till 1 Sam. vii. 12.

20. The passages quoted by St Peter are from Ps. Ixix. 25, where it is written "Let their habitation be desolate, and let none dwell in their tents;" and Ps. cix. 8, "Let his days be few, and let another take his office." St Peter changes the plural of the former verse into the singular in his quotation, for David was speaking of many enemies of his own, yet though Judas was the instrument through which the many enemies of Jesus wrought out their will, it is the punishment which came on the chief offender that St Peter is now desirous to illustrate and point to as a fulfilment of prophecy. The fulfilment in the case of the Jewish nation came at a later date, though their days as a nation were now few, and their destruction, when it came, as terrible as that of Judas.

Let his habitation be] Rather, become, or be made.

and his bishoprick] Now that this word has so restricted a meaning in English it better to use the more general term office which is given in the margin. In v. 25 this ministry is used of the same charge, and might be rendered this diaconate. A comma placed after the second and in this verse will make it clear that there are two quotations from different places. There is no contradiction between the two passages quoted by St Peter, for though the habitation of Judas is to become desolate, and have none dwelling therein, the office which he had been chosen to fill is still to be occupied, and the purpose of God in the choice of the twelve is not to be left incomplete through the offence of the traitor. And it is on the necessity for filling his place that St Peter immediately dwells, saying, For this reason must a new member be chosen. In one passage of the Psalmist the Spirit speaks of the vacancy in the Apostolic office through Iscariot's transgression, in the other of the necessity for filling it up.

take. Wherefore of these men which have companied with 21 us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed 23 two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and

21. As the new Apostle is to be, like the rest, an eyewitness to the life of Jesus, he must have been a disciple from the beginning of Christ's ministry. Such a necessity would probably make the number from whom choice could be made a very small one. It seems hardly probable, if St Luke's design had been (as is so often asserted) to represent St Paul as in every way like St Peter, that he would have dwelt so strongly on this personal knowledge of Jesus during his ministerial life, as a necessary qualification for the Apostolate.

the Lord Jesus went in and out] This expression, though used in the O. T. to describe some position of leadership in war or otherwise (cp. Deut. xxxi. 2; 1 Sam. xviii. 13), yet is apparently used here only = led his life. So we have it again Acts ix. 28. Cp. also John x. 9.

22. to be a witness with us of his resurrection] The Resurrection was the central truth, but to bear testimony that it was truly Jesus who had risen, the witness must have known Him well before His crucifixion.

It is quite in accordance with the character of St Luke's narrative that although he is careful to relate how the number of the Apostles was made complete, and the Church thus furnished with that same number of leaders which Jesus had chosen from the first, yet when Matthias has been chosen, he tells us no word about his special actions. These were no doubt of the same character as those of the eleven, but the writer's purpose is only to give typical instances of the Apostolic labours, and to shew how the Gospel was spread abroad exactly as Christ had foretold.

23. they appointed two] Thus exercising their own judgment to a certain degree in the appointment, as they could rightly do from their three years intimacy with those who had been disciples from the beginning.

Joseph called Barsabas [Barsabbas in the best MSS.] who was surnamed Justus] From the identity of the names Joseph and Joses (see note on v. 14) it has been thought that this Joseph is identical with Joses surnamed Barnabas, mentioned iv. 36. But Barsabbas is apparently a patronymic like Bartimæus, while Barnabas is interpreted as a significant appellation in iv. 36 (see note there), so that there is no sufficient ground for the identification. The name Justus, being of Latin origin, was probably used by Joseph in his intercourse with the Gentile inhabitants of the country. Thus Saul takes a Latin name, Paulus, at the commencement of his missionary labours. So Simon had a Greek name, Peter (and may not Christ have given it to him as the name by which he should be known over all the world?), and Thomas was called Didymus. To judge from the mention of Joseph's three names, and from his standing

22

24

Matthias. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two 25 thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he 26 might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots;

first in order in the mention of the chosen pair, he was of more account among the Apostles than Matthias. Of his previous or future history we know nothing.

and Matthias] He is said by Eusebius (H. E. 1. 12. 1) and Epiphanius (1. 20) to have been one of the Seventy, and there was an apocryphal Gospel which passed by his name (Euseb. III. 23).

24. And they prayed, and said] Here we are not to conclude that St Luke has recorded any more than the purport of the prayer of the disciples, in the same way as in the speeches which he reports he has only preserved a brief abstract of the speakers' arguments and language. Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men] By the lot the final decision was left in the hands of God (cf. Prov. xvi. 33), who alone could know which of these two, both having the needful qualifications as far as man could see, would prove the more excellent Apostle. The same expression is applied to God, Acts xv. 8.

shew whether of these two] Literally, shew of these two the one whom thou hast chosen.

25. that he may take part] The best MSS. read that he may take the place, &c. The Rec. Text has the same words here and in v. 17, as is represented in the A. V. A scribe remembering the former would easily assimilate the two places, and as the Greek word in v. 17 signifies lot, he might perceive a fitness in its use in this part of the narrative. from which Judas by transgression fell] Better, from which Judas fell away. The Gk. has only a verb which literally transgressed.

=

that he might go to his own place] He had been chosen into one place by Jesus, but had made another choice for himself, which had ended in destruction. That "his own place" when thus used was, to the Jewish mind, an equivalent for Gehenna the place of torment, may be seen from the Baal Haturim on Numb. xxiv. 25, where it is said "Balaam went to his own place, i.e. to Gehenna." A like expression is found concerning Job's friends, Midrash Rabbah on Eccl. vii. 1.

26. And they gave forth their lots] Better, And they gave lots for them, in accordance with MSS. The process probably was that each member of the company wrote on a tablet or ticket the name of one of the chosen two; the whole were then placed in some vessel and shaken together, and that tablet which was first drawn out decided the election. The casting of lots, though not now permitted to the Jews (see Shulkhan Aruch Foreh Deah par. 179. 1), was used by a provision of the Mosaic Law (Lev. xvi. 8) for the selection of one out of the two goats for the Lord. "The goat upon which the Lord's lot fell" was offered for a sin offering. The Apostles had not yet received the Spirit which was to "guide them into all truth." When the Holy Ghost had been given, they, as St Chrysostom notices (In Act. Ap. Hom. III.), used no more casting of lots.